Magnetic therapy dispelling patients' depression

Mary Haskins sits in the chair of the NeuroStar, a machine that delivers a magnetic pulse to the left dorso-lateral pre-frontal cortex of a patients brain, a region that is thought to be involved in depression. Dr John Bailey, right, administered the treatment to Haskins at his office TMS Patient Care.(Photo: Joe Rondone/Democrat)Buy Photo

Mary Haskins celebrated her late parents' January birthdays last week in a way that wouldn't have been possible a year ago. Since 2003, Haskins has lived with severe clinical depression that made normal life a struggle.

"I was absolutely and utterly hopeless that there was anything that would ever make me feel better in my whole life," Haskins said. "I was in bed and I was crying all day. I couldn't focus or concentrate and I lost two jobs because of it."

She said the emotions would cause her to spiral into a pit of depression that would last for days, weeks and, sometimes, months.

"It was really harmful to my family because they couldn't count on me," Haskins, who has been married for 25 years and has three children, two step-children and a grandchild. "The kids had to take on more responsibility and my husband was doing everything around the house. I would make meals reluctantly because it interrupted my sitting around the house feeling horrible."

But in recent weeks things have been different. She celebrated her parents memory with activities that helped her relive the fondest moments of her childhood.

Haskins credits the turnaround to completing Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation therapy — a six-week treatment that uses highly focused magnetic pulses to stimulate key neurons in the brain and clear the dark clouds depression. TMS is a non-invasive office procedure with no anesthesia — the patient sits in a chair while a small a magnetic field generator or "coil" on the scalp targets the precise location in the cortex that controls mood.

Haskins first heard about the treatment on a visit to her psychiatrist. She was browsing through brochures and saw a new procedure that lifted her spirits.

"I've been through many drug treatments of many different combinations. Sometimes they work and things would be better for a while, but inevitably they stopped working," Haskins said. "There was an open house and I immediately came over to sign up."

According to the Neuronetics website, "The therapy is available by prescription only. The NeuroStar system, the device used for TMS, received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in October 2008 for the treatment of major depressive disorder in patients who have failed to receive benefit from prior antidepressant therapy."

Patients are given noise-canceling earphones and a choice of music to deal with the buzzof the machine and to create a comfortable atmosphere.

Roughly 14 million U.S. adults are diagnosed with Major Depression Disorder. Of that number, 7.2 million are treated — 4 million of them unsuccessfully, according to the FDA.

Dr. John Bailey has been practicing clinical psychiatry in Tallahassee for 25 years. He began administering TMS treatments last June. Bailey said this treatment allows patients to continue everyday life without worrying about the negative side effects that sometimes accompany taking medication. .

"There is clearly a superior response rate than what we have had with pharmaceuticals," said Bailey, who sees patients in the TMS Patient Care offices on Centre Pointe Boulevard. "The electrical energy is applied only on the brain. When you take a medicine, it is absorbed in the intestines and circulates throughout the body affecting all areas — that's how you get side effects.

Bailey said patients on medication can continue to take their prescriptions in conjunction with the procedure. He said the goal is for people to see enough progress to start phasing out medication all together.

FDA research has confirmed that TMS is a major treatment advance for patients who cannot be helped by antidepressant drugs. Almost two-thirds of such patients respond to TMS, and nearly half achieve full remission.

Chris Stockwell went from being a patient of TMS to the office manager of the only Tallahassee location. Stockwell completed the treatment two years ago in Atlanta.

"The resistance I had to pharmaceutical medicine was the perfect reason for me to try this," Stockwell said. "I lacked the motivation to do anything before this treatment. It changed everything for me."

Stockwell said the treatment has been administered to eight patients in the area who have seen significant reductions in depressive symptoms across the board. He said there were no adverse effects aside from headaches.

For Haskins, progress is measured in small emotional and social steps.

"It's not that I am happy-go-lucky. It's just that I can focus now and converse with people. I'm not turning away friends and family," Haskins said. "I can acknowledge the emotion and not feel it in every part of my body. I am just more in control of my emotions and realize that the core me is not altered."